The present invention relates to continuous ink jet printing systems and, more particularly, to a low profile and disposable hydrophillic polymer device that collects ink splatter and condensation on the bottom of an ink jet printhead.
In general, continuous ink jet printing apparatus have a printhead manifold to which ink is supplied under pressure so as to issue in streams from a printhead orifice plate that is in liquid communication with the cavity. Periodic perturbations are imposed on the liquid streams, such as vibrations by an electromechanical transducer, to cause the streams to break-up into uniformly sized and shaped droplets.
A charge plate, comprising an array of addressable electrodes, is located proximate the streams break-off points to induce an electrical charge, selectively, on adjacent droplets, in accord with print information signals. Charged droplets are deflected from their nominal trajectory. For example, in a common, binary, printing mode, charged or non-print droplets are deflected into a catcher device and non-charged droplets proceed to the print medium.
While printing, the impact of the print drops on the paper can produce ink mist. Some of this ink mist can accumulate on the bottom of the printhead. Operation of the printhead near the extremes of the operation window can also cause additional ink to accumulate on the bottom of the printhead. The accumulation of ink on the bottom of the printhead can be excessive during high speed operation of the printer, so that eventually the ink will drip off the printhead onto the print medium. Current art uses wicking devices for collecting ink splatter and condensation that collect around the printhead. However, existing wicking devices have some undesirable limitations. For example, most are attached with screws or magnets, which are expensive and add xe2x80x9cthrowxe2x80x9d distance to a relative substrate. Second, most existing wicking devices use thick pads for absorption, which also adds xe2x80x9cthrowxe2x80x9d distance to a relative substrate. Also, currently used pad assemblies have costly construction. With such high cost, end users must clean and re-use the pad assemblies. This can be a messy and time consuming operation.
It is seen then that there is a need for an improved wicking device which overcomes the problems associated with the prior art.
This need is met by the device according to the present invention, wherein ink splatter and condensation on the bottom of an ink jet printhead are collected. A low profile and disposable hydrophillic polymer device achieves this.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a laminated structure utilizes differential adhesive to achieve high adhesion to a wicking material and low adhesion where removal is desired.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a light weight, low profile wicking pad for continuous ink jet printing systems. It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a device which is disposable. It is yet another object of the present invention to improve ink jet printhead performance via ink mist and ink drip elimination, while maintaining a reduced throw distance from the drop generator to the paper.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description, the accompanying drawings and the appended claims.